Iodine for hypothyroid hairloss??

[Abzieg]

I have been very un succesful in getting my gp to listen to my extensive hypo symptoms. Although my tsh is in range at 1.75 my t4 is on the lower end at 13.3 reference 12-23. I am losing hair fast. I have read iodine can help with hypo symptoms, Lugols iodone? Can anyone recommend which one I get and how much to use? I am not taking any thyroid medication

[greygoose]

Abzeig, not all hypothyroidism is due to iodine deficiency. And taking iodine will only help if you are deficient. Too much can be very bad.

Iodine is needed to make thyroid hormones, it's true. But it isn't just about hair-loss. That is a symptom of low T3. But if your thyroid isn't capable of making more hormone, for some reason, just taking iodine is not going to make your hair grow.

Before you take any sort of iodine supplementation, do get tested and make sure you need it, or you could make things a lot worse.

[1tuppence in reply to greygoose]

greygoose, is this a silly question.....

as hair-loss is a symptom of low T3 why don't drs and endos in particular, recognise hair-loss as a symptom of problem issues with the thyroid?

I realise other deficiencies can cause hair-loss, but from posts in this forum alone, so often it seems that even visual symptoms of hormone deficiencies are not taken seriously, nor recognised as being worthy of clinical attention despite the wretched THS test.

makes you want to weep.

[greygoose in reply to 1tuppence]

Simply because, they Don't learn them in med school. And anything they Don't learn in med school doesn't exist. They just Don't know what the symptoms are.

You can shout about how tired you are and how your finger nails are dropping off until you're blue in the face, but they have no idea that these are symptoms of low thyroid.

We know, but they Don't. And, as they consider us all to be liars and idiots - I think they do learn that in med school - and inferior to them, they feel justified in ignoring us. It's just plain ordinary ignorance. And there's not much we can do about that.

[1tuppence in reply to greygoose]

Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[Abzieg]

I am going to get a loading test next week so il see if im deficient. I was under he impression that if

You have low thyroid hormones that iodine will aid the thyroid in producing more? Regardless of being deficient or not? Or am

I wrong

[greygoose in reply to Abzieg]

Yes. Think of your thyroid as a factory producing... wooden dolls, for example. Half of your factory burns down for some reason, with all the machinery. So, you increase your delivery of wood... Is that going to produce more dolls? No, because you Don't have the capacity to make them anymore no matter how much wood you buy.

There are many, many reasons for becoming hypo - the main one being due to Hashimoto's - just shoving in more raw materials isn't going to help a damaged gland, it's only going to over-load it. The poor gland struggles to keep up with the increased supply, but the struggle eventually exhausts it, and it gives up altogether.

You only need a certain amount of iodine a day. Less is bad, and excess is bad. And Don't forget that iodine is recycled in the body. Your daily in-take isn't all used up like thyroid hormones are. When one molecule of T4 is converted to T3, one atom of iodine is released into the blood Stream and reused. So, if you're taking thyroid hormone replacement, you are taking iodine in small quantities. And, although it doesn't sound like much - one atom - given that it's recycled over and over again, it all mounts up.

And, quite apart from all that. if you are iodine deficient, it isn't simply a question of taking more iodine. It doesn't work like that. You need a doctor that knows what he's doing to get your thyroid back on track.

[Heloise]

I agree with Greygoose and isn't it a pity. There is a lot of evidence if you keep reading this site. There are other reasons for hairloss AND low T3 and that is adrenal exhaustion. But, the bottom line is that all your hormones are working together. If ones goes, the others are affected so keep in mind that this is a holistic problem.

If you have time, this man ties it together.

youtube.com/watch?v=T_Re4ja...(Not working as expected?)